Russia - threadbanned users in OP

I think you are right. The Ukrainians have fought heroically but they know they can't win this war, it says a lot that Zelensky accuses Russia of war crimes and genocide yet says "we have to negotiate, we have no choice" and seems ultimately ready to cede to quite a few of Putin's demands, which suggests that despite some successes militarily they are struggling

Satellite imagery makes a mockery of Russias claims that the bodies on Bucha roads weren’t there when they left.

You don't need hiking/military boots if you're fighting a prolonged urban action; not that Ukraine has as strict a dress code as we're used to in NATO or Western armies at the best of times. These are guys that are used to sitting in trenches for weeks on end; they don't have daily PT consisting of cross-country hikes where they'd need good shoes at all times.

In fact I would actually argue the complete opposite: if you wanted to show a fake unit surrendering you would probably have them looking as identical as possible. And you would probably block most of their faces with masks; rather than having them completely visible. And you would have made sure they all had obvious Ukraine flags or arm bands; and so on and so forth.

Anyway I'm not going to keep arguing the toss: it's possible it's a fake sure but I don't really see any compelling evidence it is fake.

It appears that the escalate to de-escalate policy applies to more than just large scale war, one of the best and most up to date reads on the current Russian nuclear policies is a 2019 thesis by Frank Kirbyson, Naval Postgraduate School:-

"The expanded role for nuclear weapons in the 2000 Military Doctrine indicates the Russian Federation adopted an “escalate to de-escalate” strategy. The 2000 Military Doctrine expanded on Russia’s classification of conflicts to include: (1) armed conflicts; (2) local wars; (3) regional wars; (4) global (large-scale) war"

And for anyone thinking that NATO involvement won't go nuclear the author concludes that current Russian nuclear policies supports (perhaps even encourages) the idea of a first strike escalation of large scale conventional conflict into nuclear conflict:-

"The 2000 Military Doctrine goes on further to state “A large-scale war utilizing only conventional weapons will be characterized by the high likelihood of escalating into nuclear war.” The expanded purpose of nuclear weapons and Russia’s clear linkage between conventional attacks and nuclear response strongly support the idea of an escalatory strategy"

It's an very good read for anyone wondering what the current Russian nuclear policy is.

"This thesis examines aims to contribute to the current debate on whether or not the Russian Federation currently possesses an “escalate to de-escalate” nuclear strategy through a comprehensive look at the evolution of Russian military doctrine, capabilities and weapons development, and major annual exercises. The cumulative assessment of this research arrives in agreeance with the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review in that the Russian Federation possesses an “escalate to de-escalate” strategy. However, this research further suggests that Russia assigns an operational role for nonstrategic nuclear weapons in the event of large-scale conflict with either the United States (and/or its NATO allies) or China.

Seems quite skeptical - none of them are injured or look like they've spent a month under siege.

That ties in with a Guardian eye witness report yesterday - says many people were shot in Bucha in the first few days of the war.

Horrible stuff to be witnessing. With 4 young kids at the start of all this I’m thinking no WW3 please, but now I’ll look back at our generations handling of this as cowardly, privileged and shameful.

We all fear Nukes as the end of civilisation but Fcuk me what civilisation is this if kids and innocent people can be abused like this. It’s barbaric

i dread looking back in time and feeling shame we didn’t demand more from the world.

How long can NATO sit back and really watch this happen?

Sanctions to suit the privileged, hit them on the energy stuff and least for Fcuk sake